Daewoong Pharmaceutical said on Thursday that it signed a contract with digital healthcare start-up, Sky Labs, for the domestic distribution of CART-I BP, a ring-shaped continuous blood pressure monitor, at Daewoong's headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Under the agreement, Daewoong Pharmaceutical will have exclusive sales rights and will start distributing the product to hospitals and clinics nationwide from September.

CART-I BP, a continuous blood pressure monitor developed by Sky Labs, was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in March as the world's first ring-type blood pressure monitor that adopts the cuffless method.

It measures blood pressure through photoplethysmography (PPG) and also features a waterproof function, so it can be used safely during exercise, showering, and rainy weather.

Moreover, CART-1 BP improves the disadvantages of the existing cuff-type 24-hour blood pressure monitor preventing sleep disturbance from repetitive pressure applied from the cuff.

The smartphone app also enables convenient morning, daytime, and nighttime blood pressure checks to provide various blood pressure data which can be used to adjust the drug dosage. The continuous monitoring function facilitates real-time monitoring for changing lifestyle habits such as drinking.

CART-1 BP is expected to be released first to hospitals and subsequently, will be sold online at the end of this year for general consumers. Daewoong Pharmaceutical is targeting cumulative domestic sales of more than 70 billion won (approximately $53 million) over the next three years, said a company official.

"Together with Daewoong Pharmaceutical, we aim to fundamentally improve the lives of out-of-hospital patients by expanding the scope of management to include not only effective and easy hypertension treatment and management in daily life, but also nocturnal hypertension during sleep,” said Sky Labs CEO Lee Byung-hwan.